Mr Lindens Library
by journey-taker
Summary: A girl named Caitlyn goes over to her uncles house, because her mom is off on a business trip. She doesn't expect much to begin with, but when her uncle Linden shows her his library, she comes across a book that will change her life forever.
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Chapter 1

Caitlyn was looking out of her mother's car window as she waved her house goodbye. She didn't want to go to her uncle's, but her mom had a business trip for the month. The last time she saw Uncle Linden was when she was five years old. It's been seven years since then and she wasn't sure what it would be like. It took about an hour to get there. Just by looking at the large rusty old house, Caitlyn knew she wasn't going to enjoy the beginning of her vacation.

"Ma, do I really have to go?" Caitlyn said. She knew it was a useless attempt but it was worth a try.

"Yes dear." her mom replied. "I'm telling you for the last time, I'm sorry I can't stay home, but I need to finish up some work. Although, I'm sure you and Uncle Linden will have a wonderful time. And, Aunt Ruth even said she would teach you how to sew."

Caitlyn didn't reply. She wasn't really into sewing or dolls. Her only hobby was reading. Everyday, she would always finish a new book. Finding new adventures and dreams along the way. Her room would always be filled of books, but for now all she had were her three favorite books and her favorite toy doll.

Even though Caitlyn wasn't into dolls, she got hers from her father. He had made it for her in her 10th birthday. It was the only doll she really loved and cared for. A week after her birthday her mom got a call from the police. Somehow, on her father's way from work, he got into a car accident. He died from a severe head injury. Ever since then, Caitlyn has had that doll with her. Even though the doll doesn't look the same way it did, she still sees it as the first day she got it.

Caitlyn's mom was now parking the car in her uncle's front yard. Just as they got out, they were greeted with hugs and kisses from Uncle Linden and Aunt Ruth. Caitlyn was trying her best to be as polite as she could.

"Welcome!" Said Linden.

"Hi Uncle Linden." Replied Caitlyn, slightly nervous.

"Let me show you around the house." Linden said as he turned around toward his house. Caitlyn heaved a sigh as she walked in. She could see her mother talking to Ruth through the windows. "Come on." Said Linden rather excitedly. He was already across the halls still skipping his way through. He seemed very energetic for a man around the age of 50. Caitlyn quickly caught up to him as he stopped in front of two large doors. "I want to show you something. You know, your ma told me you were quite the bookworm. Well, that's quite coincidental since I am too." He then opened the two doors leading to the largest library Caitlyn had ever seen. Her mouth dropped open and she almost forgot to breathe. It had books piled so high; you would need a ladder to reach. All the books were filed neatly in alphabetical order and seemed so easy to find. There wasn't a book on earth that wasn't in this library.

"This is amazing!" Caitlyn said as she walked in.

"Yes, and as long as you're here, there is no book you cannot read." Linden replied, as he looked at the library with complete satisfaction. "Go ahead, enjoy yourself." Linden said throwing out his arm toward the library.

Caitlyn looked at him at disbelief but then ran toward the library with complete enthusiasm.


	2. Chapter 2 The Book

Chapter 2

As she was walking through the aisles something caught her eye. It was a rusty old door with scratch marks all over it. Right away, Caitlyn's curiosity took over. As she slowly opened the door, she carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching. The door creaked loudly as she opened it.

"Quiet!" She said. Then, when the door was finally opened, Caitlyn was disappointed as she saw that only one book was in the room. She could tell no one had been here for a while since the room was filled of cobwebs. As she picked up the book she felt the huge amount of dust covering it. She then wiped the cover of the book with her shirt to find the simple words "The Journey" for a title. Caitlyn was surprised to find that the book had no author. She then fully wiped off the book and quietly left the room. As she was leaving the library she found Linden over at the entrance.

"Found any interesting books?" He asked, with a smile on his face.

"Only one" Caitlyn replied, showing Linden the book. Just as Linden saw the book, his smile quickly vanished.

"Where did you find that?' He asked, slightly stiffer than before.

"Umm… In a room." She feebly replied.

"You haven't read it have you?"

"No sir."

"Let me tell you a little secret. This book is much more trouble than its worth. Take my advice and put that book back to wherever you found it. Or else you just might regret it for the rest of your life." Linden then took the book from Caitlyn and sent her off.

The whole day, Caitlyn's mind was set on that book. She had so many questions. "Why was it in that room?" "Why couldn't I read it?" "What would I regret?" Questions like those haunted her till sundown.

When it was time for Caitlyn to go to bed, Ruth kindly walked her to her room. She was impressed by all the nice decorations. As Ruth left, Caitlyn quietly unpacked her stuff. It didn't take long until she started to miss her home, but as quickly as she was homesick, she became curious once again. The book started to come back into her head. The words "The Journey" were running through her mind. She also wondered why there was no author. Having all these questions was almost too much for her to handle, and she had to find out soon. She couldn't wait any longer, for she had to find out. So, she quietly got out of bed, left her room, and carefully walked toward the library. Although she was at full caution, she couldn't help the loud creaking in every step she took. Oh, how much she hated the old wooden floor, but it didn't take long for her to get to the library. As she rushed inside, she quickly found the scratched door. With a sigh of relief she was glad to see that the book was back where she found it. She quickly picked it up and went to her room.


	3. Chapter 3 The Start of a Journey

Chapter 3

With a flashlight Caitlyn was able to read the book. She was very attached to it for it was very interesting. It was about a boy who always wanted adventure. His name was Sype. He was 13 years old and had no parents. He was currently stuck in the woods and didn't know how to get out. After Caitlyn finished the first chapter she couldn't stop reading. She kept going until surprisingly, she finished the book. Afterwards, she quickly felt tired and decided to go to bed. She then pulled her sheets over her and went to sleep.

As she was asleep, slowly green sprouts were coming out of the book. He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late. For, this book was different than any other. For whatever you read in that book, as you fell asleep it would come to life. Although the only people who could see what was happening, were the ones who had read the book. So as Caitlyn was dreaming about her usual dreams, the book was creating the entire "first chapter" for her to relive.

As Caitlyn arose from her bed, she jumped off and landed in what seemed to be a few inches of water. Screaming, she quickly jumped back in bed to find out that she was in the middle of a river. Completely in shock, she had no clue what to think. She went with the idea that she was dreaming, and just needed to wait until she woke up. She decided to wait until her bed landed somewhere dry. It took about five minutes to do so, and Caitlyn jumped off looking around her. It took a couple of glimpses to realize that this was exactly how she imagined the forest in her book. Knowing this, she was almost sure she was dreaming. She kept walking around until she heard the noise of coconuts being bashed together. She ran to the source to find a raggedly dressed boy with coconuts and string. The boy stood up and looked at her. He looked slightly confused but still curious at the same time.

"Umm… hi" Caitlyn said, waving to him cautiously.

The boy ignored the greeting and asked, "Where did you come from?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

The boy then heaved a sigh of disappointment and then handed Caitlyn a coconut. "Here, then I guess we both have to escape out of here together."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She said holding the coconut.

"Tie them together. If we get enough coconuts and string we could make a raft and go up river."

Caitlyn then shrugged her shoulders and started tying then together. "By the way, I'm Caitlyn." She said as she got some string.

"The name is Sype." He said as he grabbed a coconut. Caitlyn's mouth almost dropped, but she kept on working anyway.


	4. Chapter 4 Realization

Chapter 4

Aunt Ruth was pacing the floor outside of Caitlyn's room. Uncle Linden walked by and then noticed her frustrated face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you know why our niece is dead in her room?" She yelled. "I went to check on her since she wasn't down stairs and I find her out cold in her room!"

"Are you sure? How long were you in there?"

"Only for a moment, I ran out just as I saw her." Ruth then started crying and went down stairs.

Hearing this, Linden rushed toward Caitlyn's room. Crashing the door open, Linden found his niece in a worse condition than he feared. She was pale and as cold as ice. The only way he knew she was alive was because her body was breathing. Then, the cruel sudden shock of reality hit him. Right away he knew what was wrong with her, but he couldn't let anyone know. He knew she wasn't dead. Actually, he knew what he was seeing wasn't real. The body of Caitlyn in the bed was actually an illusion to those who haven't read the book. It had been so long since Linden had read the book. So long that he had forgot most of it, and because of that, his eyes were fooled like everyone else's. He then noticed the book on the floor. It was opened on the first page of chapter one. Trying to remember, Linden knew that all he could do now was wait. All because his foolish niece didn't listen to him, he now had a huge problem on his hands. He needed to find a way to keep contact with Caitlyn. With so many thoughts in his mind, he knew he had to act quickly. Linden then left the room, and went downstairs to find Ruth hanging up the phone.

"What are you doing?" Linden asked, slightly worried.

"I called a detective over, I want him to find the criminal who did this to our niece."

Hearing this Linden went into a quick panic. "What! Why?" He didn't want anyone to find out about the book, for he knew it would only lead to chaos.

"Linden! Caitlyn is dead on her bed, and I want to know why!"

Linden knew that he couldn't talk her out of it. So instead he came up with a second plan. He ran upstairs and into Caitlyn's room. He then grabbed the book on the floor and hid it inside of Caitlyn's bookshelf. Afterwards he smashed the window with his fist, making it look like a break-in. The rest would be up to the detective to find out. Linden really hoped his plan worked. This was a mission that could not fail.


	5. Chapter 5 On the River

Chapter 5

After several hours Caitlyn and Sype finished the raft. They put it on the river where Caitlyn first entered. Surprisingly, when Caitlyn looked around she couldn't find her bed.

"What are you looking for?" Sype asked.

"Uh, nothing."

"Good because we have got to keep moving." Sype then jumped onto the raft and threw his hand out to Caitlyn. Looking at the hand she decided to grab it and was pulled on. With a paddle made of bark, Sype slowly paddled his way through the river. "How did you get here?" Sype asked.

"Huh?" Caitlyn said as she stared off into the distance.

"How did you get here?" He repeated.

"Oh, umm. Well actually I don't know how I got here. I was sleeping in my bed one day and then I wake up over here."

Sype gave her a confused look but then kept on paddling.

"How did you get here?" She asked.

"I was born here." He replied without looking at her.

"What? How?"

"I don't know, the forest tells me that I'm supposed to be important in my future and I guess that's why it created me."

"Wait. The forest created you? And you can speak to it?"

"Yeah. Today is supposed to be the day I start my journey, or at least that's what it told me. So I started to make my raft and then you came along."

"Wow." Caitlyn said as she looked down.

By now it was late at night. And Sype was able to catch some fish for food. Caitlyn always hated fish, but it was either eat now or never. After they ate Sype tied a big rock to a string connected to the raft and threw it down the river. The raft then stopped on its tracks.

"We will need to get some rest for tomorrow, we have got a big day waiting." Said Sype as he laid down and closed his eyes.

"Ok." Caitlyn said as she too laid down. As her head went down it hit something that felt awkward. When she grabbed it she found out it was her doll. Nearly in tears, she picked it up and held it against her until she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6 The Detective

Chapter 6

Linden was in his office sitting on his favorite chair. Looking out the window with what seemed to be a small glowing rock in his hand. He had always had this rock and never left it out of his sight. He called it his lucky charm even though he never tells anyone where he got it. Its color was indescribable since it's seemed to change frequently. Everyday it had a new color, and sometimes it went to certain colors more than once. So as he held his rock, he glanced out the window to find a black BMW parking in his driveway.

"He's here!" Said Ruth as she quickly ran downstairs fixing her dress on the way.

Mr. Linden's hands tightened. He slowly put the rock inside his pocket and got out of his seat. _**Here we go**_. He thought to himself as he put on his hat. He went downstairs, and saw his wife with a tall young man. He was formally dressed holding a briefcase and a sheet of paper. He had a polite smile and seemed quite nice. Linden already knew he wasn't going to be pleased.

"Linden, this is detective Burdick. He is in the top of his class and is willing to help us find out about Caitlyn." Ruth said

"A pleasure." Detective Burdick said as he put his briefcase down to shake Lindens hand.

Linden just looked at the hand and looked back at Burdick. "You will be sleeping downstairs at the living room. We go to bed at 9:00 sharp. If you wish to stay up any later then you must do so without bothering us. Is that understood?"

Burdick's smile then went away and replied, "Yes sir" and he went to unpack his stuff.

"Linden!" Ruth said, upset about the way he treated the guest.

"Oh, Mr. Linden? I have a contract here. If you could please sign it then I would be most obliged. Once that is done I can begin my work as soon as possible." Burdick said, handing him the paper. Linden then took the paper, signed it and returned it to him. "Wonderful, I promise not to bother you in my investigation and will inform you immediately if I find anything."

"Very well." Linden said. "Go ahead and hurry on your search."

With that, Burdick then opened his briefcase, which held tons of high-tech equipment that Linden didn't even know existed. He was worried that the detective would get too involved with his plan, but he had to make sure that his wife felt safe.

"Let me show you her room." Ruth said as she walked Burdick upstairs. Linden followed them to Caitlyn's room. Burdick then walked inside to find the breathing corpse on the bed. Examining her he took out a notebook and wrote on it. Linden tried to get a glimpse at his notes, but instead Burdick just looked at him and wrote more notes. The detective then walked around the room until he stepped on the broken glass on the floor. He looked down and then out the window. At this point, linden was breathing rather heavily. Burdick then looked through Caitlyn's closet and bookshelf. After he was done with his search he then put his notepad away and walked up to Ruth.

"This is quite an interesting story you have here. So tell me, did Caitlyn do anything unusual the night this happened?"

"No I don't think so. She was fine the whole day, I even tucked her into her bed." Ruth replied.

"And was this window broken before the incident?" Burdick said, as he pointed at the broken window.

"No, actually I didn't realize it until this morning."

Lindens mouth started to go dry, but he insisted himself to listen onward.

"What about you, mister Linden?" The detective asked. "When did you notice the broken window?"

"About the same time I saw my niece." Linden replied. He was glad that he didn't hesitate.

"Are you sure?"

"110 percent." And with this, Burdick then picked up his supplies and walked out the room.

"It is getting late." He said as he pulled out his watch. It was 8:45."I will rest up for today, and tomorrow I will set up a more accurate investigation."

"Very well." Said Linden as he walked out.

"Mr. Burdick. If there is anything I could do to make your trip more decent please let me know." Ruth said as she walked Burdick down the stairs. Linden stayed behind and waited for the two to leave the floor. Then, as they were gone he went inside Caitlyn's room, grabbed the book from the shelf and put it on the floor. The book then opened itself to chapter 3.

"Oh, please. Please just hurry up." Linden softly said to himself. After that he picked the book back up and put it back into the shelf.


	7. Chapter 7 Auras

Chapter 7

Caitlyn has been on her trip for two days now. Sype has been teaching her a lot since her first day. Sype is one of the few kids who weren't born by parents but by nature itself. People like this were called auras. Sype was an earth aura while there were others like water auras, sky auras, and fire auras. Although, no matter the aura they all had one mother and it was nature. Whenever an aura mentioned the name Mother, they were talking about nature.

Another thing that made the auras special is that they could control their element. As an example: an earth aura could control earthy rocks, wood, etc; or a water aura could control all earthy liquids, such as water, ice, etc.

Even, though the auras are peaceful, there are still many groups that don't get along. Auras are grouped into two different types of tribes: embracive, and independent. The embracive tribes are more common and they are peaceful tribes that accept all auras. The independent tribes are very excluding and only accept those of their element. Many times they even go to war with other elements.

Although, not all auras start out able to control their element. It could take years for them to learn how to use it, and in rare occasions some don't learn how to use it throughout their whole life. Sype was one of the unlucky few. He was 13 years old and still hadn't learned how to control earthy matter.

Ever since Sype was little he had always tried to learn his element but never could. This always discouraged him, but he always told him self to never give up.

He always said, "Search deeply for your desire, and you just might get more than you bargained." This was the motto he lived by his whole life, and he swore he would never forget it.

After their first day, they found land and headed on into a mountainous area. They found shelter in a cave and stayed there over night. They each shared stories until sundown.

After their second day, they found civilization. It was a large town with many earth auras. They were independent but allowed non-auras to settle, because of that Caitlyn and Sype were able to stay. They spent the night over at an inn.

The currency that was used was called rill. Rill was like a gold colored rock. The bigger, the more it was worth. Although, nothing had an exact price, you could only get something if the seller thought your rill was worth enough. This wasn't a problem for Sype. While he was in the forest, he found an old cavern that was filled of rill. He called it, "A gift from Mother." For he had enough rill to last him years. He kept his rill in cloth-made sacks.

The inn that they stayed in wasn't fancy but it was enough for Caitlyn to sleep peacefully. She held her doll with her and held it tight until she fell asleep. Caitlyn had a very peaceful sleep until it was interrupted by a hard shake on the head. She awoke seeing Sype in front of her.

"Are you awake?" He asked.

"I am now… Geez, what do you want?" She said, still half asleep.

"Look." He said as he pointed out the window. As Caitlyn got up she put on her shoes and dragged herself to the window. When she looked out the window, she was horrified by what she was seeing. In the distance, the buildings were in flames, and people were running and screaming. Below she saw two large groups of auras attacking each other with swords and bows and arrows. There was a war outside of her window and they didn't know what to do.


	8. Chapter 8 The War

Chapter 8

"Oh my god!" Caitlyn said as she slowly walked backwards. Her eyes were wide open with one hand covering her mouth. "What's happening?" She said, not noticing that her eyes were watering.

"The earth auras are battling against the sky auras. It seems that the sky auras want this land." Sype replied, as he looked out the window. "Mother doesn't approve..." He then put on his shoes and pulled out a small stone from his pocket

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to please mother by stopping this battle." He replied.

"What! How are going to do that? There are tons of warriors out there with swords, and arrows. All you have is that rock, how is that going to stop the battle?" Caitlyn couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Mother is calling me. The forest gave me this stone, and told me that it would be important one day. Today is that day. I can feel it." He tightened his grasp on the stone. "I don't know how I'll do it, but with mother by my side, I know I can't lose." He then walked out the door without another word.

"Wait!" Caitlyn said as she quickly picked up her doll and rushed after him, but he had already left the building. Sype had snuck around the back of the building so no one could see him. Slowly Caitlyn followed him trying not to let him see her. Behind the building was a large grassy hill. Sype had quickly run up with Caitlyn swiftly behind him. As she got to the top, she saw Sype sitting down waiting for her.

"Well, it took you long enough." He said with a smile.

"Just tell me what your plan is." She retorted.

"I don't really know yet but take a look." He said as he pointed toward the battle. From the hill she was able to get a good view. The earth auras were clothed in brown armor, throwing huge boulders just by their hand movements. The ones throwing rocks were further away from the battle, and the closer ones were with blades attacking the sky auras.

She looked at Sype to find him concentrating on his pebble, but it didn't move. She felt bad for him. Then she looked at the sky auras. They didn't wear any armor, just white clothes. The sky auras in the middle would throw away the rocks thrown at them by making huge waves of wind blasting the rock towards the walls. The sky auras upfront had swords and fought the earth auras, yet they weren't as strong and were getting brutally defeated. The sky auras in the back had bows and arrows. Every time they shot an arrow they would use the wind to make it go faster. The arrows went so fast that they were able to break straight threw the enemy's armor.

The more she thought about it the more she realized how much trouble they would be in for interfering.

"Look." Said Sype as he pointed at an earth aura. He was dressed differently than the others.

"Who is he?" She asked.

"That's their leader." He replied. "He's the strongest, and if you look, the sky auras have a leader too."

Caitlyn looked at both leaders. "What do we do with them?"

"All I know is that if we can somehow defeat these two leaders, then both their warriors will surrender."

"Great, now how do we do that?"

"Umm… I don't know."

"Well this is just perfect." She said sarcastically. She then looked at her doll, and passed her hand through its brown silky hair. When she looked into its eyes, it started to glow, and all of a sudden a vision popped into her head. She remembered reading this chapter in her book. She remembered everything he did, and now she had to lead him through it. "I have an idea." She said.

"Really?"

"Yes, stand up." She said as she quickly arose.

"Ok." He then got up, and looked at her. "Now what?"

"This." She said, as she then pushed Sype and he fell back tripping over a branch. He then was tumbling down the hill hitting rocks and branches until he fell into a big pile of leaves. Just as he thought it was over, he found himself falling into a large pit. Caitlyn felt bad for pushing him, but in the original story he tripped by himself and found a secret cave covered by leaves. She knew she had found it. She then ran down and looked into the pit. She saw Sype on the floor groaning in pain. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Ouch! What was that for!" He yelled.

"Sorry I… wait, is there anything down there?"

Sype then looked around, and saw a sword stuck blade-down on the floor. "Whoa, hey you have to see this. It looks like a sword that's been stabbed through the ground!"

_**Yes! **_Caitlyn thought to herself. " Can you get it?" She asked.

"Umm let me check." He then walked up to the sword and saw that there was an inscription. It was written in the aura language. The language was only taught to auras, and they learned it from Mother. It read, "May the power of Mother be with One." Sype didn't understand what it meant but then tried to take the sword. The attempt failed, for it seemed as though the sword wouldn't move an inch off its resting place. Sype then looked at the pommel* of the blade and noticed that there was a piece missing in the center. Recognizing the shape, he then took the rock out of his pocket and placed it in the hollow pommel. The rock then molded into the blade and began to glow, transforming into the brightest ruby he had ever seen. Now more confident, he tried to pull the blade out one more time. In shock he found himself pulling it out with ease.

* - **The knob on the hilt of a sword or saber**


	9. Chapter 9 The Book's New Reader

Chapter 9

Burdick was putting his notes together. "Is it a disease?" "Why is she still breathing?" "Was there really an intruder?" This case had him in more questions than he could think of. Every time he thought about it, he would only get a headache. None of this made any sense, and whenever Linden was around he had to act as if he knew everything. _**Linden… **_He thought to himself. He couldn't help but feel that he was part of the plot. This girl's condition was like no other, and Linden seemed so calm about it, almost too calm. Even though, it still didn't add up. If he knew that Ruth was going to leave for reasons only Linden knew then he would have asked many more questions beforehand. The stress finally got to Burdick, and he yelled as loud as he could. "Ugh! I will never solve this case!" He then hit his fist on the bookshelf knocking over a few books.

"What the hell is going on up there!" Shouted Linden from down stairs.

Quickly regaining his sanity, Burdick started to put the books back on the shelf.

"Sorry Mr. Linden, I –"

"I don't want to hear it just get back to work." Said Linden.

"Yes sir." Replied Burdick, as he was putting the last few books in the shelf. Just as he was about to put the last book in, he noticed that's its pages were turning by itself. _**What? **_He thought to himself. The book flipped over to the middle of the fifth chapter, and was slowly turning. Burdick licked his finder and held it up to see if he could feel a breeze, but there wasn't enough to turn the page of a book. He then picked up the book and began to read. He started on the 5th chapter and didn't realize that he kept on going. He only got to read it for about ten minutes until he heard footsteps heading upstairs. Frightened to be found off duty, Burdick quickly closed the book, put it in the shelf, and resumed to take notes in the room. After a couple seconds he found Linden standing outside of the room.

"Its 9:00." Linden said. "If you wish to stay up, then I suggest you do it more quietly than before."

"No, it's ok, I need to get some rest." Said Burdick, as he left to go to his room. As Burdick was leaving he noticed that Linden walked into Caitlyn's room. Curious, he slowly and quietly tried to view Linden's actions. He saw him go straight to the bookshelf and pick up a book. Burdick examined it and realized it was the same book that he had read. Linden placed the book down, and to Burdick's surprise, he saw the book open itself. _**What is going on? **_Burdick decided to keep on watching. Linden just waited till the book stopped flipping pages, and once it did he just gave a disappointed look. Burdick didn't understand what was happening but before he could think, Linden was putting the book back and leaving the room. Burdick quickly and quietly ran to his room, hoping he wasn't seen. Catching his breath, Burdick just laid down in his bed, and quickly fell asleep, not realizing the journey he was about to take.


	10. Chapter 10 Two Sides, One Fate

Chapter 10

Sype, with the blade in his hands, was almost too shocked to speak. For, he was holding the most exquisite blade he had ever seen. The handle was crafted in gold, and the blade looked so sharp, it was almost like you could cut yourself just by looking at it.

Sype, whose mind seemed to be the only thing moving, just stood there. While he was doing so, Caitlyn noticed that the war was getting fiercer. Worrying the worst, she quickly yelled at Sype. "Sype! Get over here! You need to get out!"

Gaining conciseness he quickly looked up to see Caitlyn with a worried face. _**How am I going to get up there? **_He thought to himself. The height that he fell was more than twice his size, and was practically impossible to come out of. "I can't get out!" He told Caitlyn.

Noticing that the war was already inside the village, Caitlyn was getting quick ideas. "Wait right here, I think I can find a rope for you to climb." She said as she headed toward the inn.

"Wait! Don't go! Its too dangerous!" Sype shouted, but it was already too late for Caitlyn had headed toward the inn.

- Caitlyn -

As she rushed toward the inn with her little doll in hand, she couldn't help but feel bad for Sype. As she got close to the inn, she noticed how close the war was. Every minute they got closer and closer, and their weapons would get fiercer and fiercer.

She tried to sneak into the inn without being noticed, and once she got inside, she quickly ran to look for something to help Sype. Searching through all the rooms, she couldn't find anything that seemed to help. Floor by floor, and nothing had what she needed. At the third floor, Caitlyn started to panic. Time was running out, and she needed something fast.

Caitlyn looked out a nearby window and saw the entire battle happening no more than 200 feet from the inn. _**Oh no…**_ She thought to herself. As she turned around, she saw a dark figure in front of her. It had a human shape, but was covered by a dark silhouette of energy, making it impossible to see who was inside. Before she could think, the dark creature quickly picked her up and threw her out the window. In total shock, she fell from the building, with glass shards piercing her skin. Caitlyn landed on the hard floor still trying to keep hold of her breath. Slowly losing her vision, she managed to see her doll right in front of her. With a slight smile on her face, she tried to reach for the doll, but to her disbelief her it was picked up. Before she could see who did it, her vision completely died away. Scared to death, she used the last of her strength to cry. Then, she was lost in her deep sleep.

- Sype -

Sype fell once again as he tried to climb up and out of the hole. He then sat down and looked at his new blade. He looked at the inscription, "May the power of Mother be with One." and tried to understand what it meant. "The power of mother…" He said to himself as he held up his blade.

Looking at a near by pebble he slowly concentrated on it. _**Come on, lift…lift… **_He thought to himself as he held his free hand toward the pebble, and slowly the pebble arose. Speechless, he tried it again but instead with a much larger rock. To his surprise he was able to move it with ease. Sype then looked at his blade and placed it down. He then tried to move the rock, but it didn't move. With a sigh of disappointment Sype picked up the blade and moved the rock near the hole above the cave. The rock was large enough for him to climb up and out of the cave, but before he left we wanted to try something else. Using the blade, he waved his arm hard in the air, and sure enough and large gust of wind came rushing through him. With a large smile on his face he tried this trick one more time, but instead of wind, fire flared through and out of his arm.

"Impossible…" He said to himself. Before he tried anything else, he heard a loud booming noise that awakened him to reality. Using the element of wind to lift him to the air, Sype quickly got out of the hole and ran toward Caitlyn. As he rushed to the inn, he saw just how close the war was. Trying to stay focused, he ran straight toward the inn. When he got there, something got his attention. He looked down to see Caitlyn's doll. Picking it up he looked at it closely noticing scratch marks and small bloodstains. Completely confused, he studied the doll a bit more, but as he looked down he found Caitlyn's beat up body passed out on the floor. "No…" He said as he fell to his knees, bursting in tears. He then picked up her body and held it close. "NO!"


	11. Chapter 11 Burdick and the Traveler

Chapter 11

Burdick awoke from his long sleep. "Oh man, what time is it… Linden is going to kill me if he finds out I've been-" But before he could say another word, he was interrupted by a hard hit in the head. _**Oww! **_Linden thought to himself as he picked up the item that hit him. It was a small fruit, but it didn't look like any that he had seen before. Suddenly, Burdick realized that he wasn't in his room. He looked around to find trees and bushes everywhere. In sudden panic, Burdick quickly jumped out of his bed falling into a deep river. Swimming up, he burst out of the water gasping for air. He then swam back to his bed, climbed up and into it, and sat down. "This is all just a dream…" He told himself. _**Maybe if I try to go back to sleep… **_He thought to himself. He then wrapped his wet bed sheets around himself and went back to sleep.

Once he was finally comfortable in his position, his bed quickly landed on shore and he was brutally thrown off his bed and landed onto hard dirt. With his face scratched up, Burdick didn't have any other choice but to keep walking onward. _**There has got to be and end to this. **_He thought to himself as he kept on walking. In the distance he saw what seemed to be a small village. "That's going to be a long walk." He said to himself. "Might as well get a quick drink." Burdick then turned around heading toward the lake when he noticed that the whole river was gone. All that was left was dry rocky sand. "What the-"

"Hey, do you need a ride?" Said a tall boy. He had dirty blonde hair, and looked around the age of 17 to 18. He was riding what looked like a chicken the size of a horse, except its feathers were darker and seemed much more brisk.

Burdick turned around in shock, staring at the huge beast. "Umm. Yes please, I would rather appreciate it." He said, taking his eyes of the creature.

"Ok jump on." The boy replied with a big smile on his face.

Burdick looked at the bird cautiously and decided to climb on. It took him several awkward attempts until he finally got on.

While they were going on their trip, Burdick thought that this would be the best time to get some questions answered. "So… umm what's your name?"

"Aaron." The boy replied.

"Where am I?" Burdick asked.

"Your telling me you don't know?" Aaron said, with a confused yet joyful expression.

"Should I?"

"Well… I don't know. I don't really see how someone could be in the middle of nowhere and not know where they are or how they got there."

"Oh…"

"But don't worry. I'm sure you might get some idea once we get to the village."

"Village?"

"Yeah, even though this tribe is independent, I heard that they still let non-auras settle in."

"Independent? Non-auras? Umm sir, pardon me for asking, but what are you talking about?"

"You ask a lot of questions. What about you? How did you wind up in the middle of a desert, and look like you just came out of a waterfall?

"Umm…" Burdick said as he realized he was still wet from coming out of the disappearing river.

"Are you a water aura? Because if you are, then I'm afraid the tribe that we are going to wont let you in."

"Listen, sir. I uh mean, Aaron. I really don't understand quite what's happening but if this village can let me rest over night, I'm sure it will be all I need at the moment."

"Well I guess it's just your luck, because we have arrived." Aaron said as he stopped his large bird in front of a tall muscular man who stood in front of a large gate.

"Are you auras?" The man asked closely examining the two on the bird.

_**What is he talking about? What are auras? **_Burdick thought to himself.

"No, we are both travelers." Aaron said as he patted his large bag hanging from the side of his bird.

"Ok, you may go through." The man said as he motioned some other guards to help open the gate.

"Thank you." Aaron said as he walked in.

Inside the village, Burdick watched in complete shock as he saw little kids picking up rocks twice their size. He saw men lifting boulders just by the movements of their hands as they pushed them aside to clear the walkways. "Impossible." Burdick said as he watched in amazement.

"What? Haven't you seen an earth aura before?" Aaron said.

"So is that what they are? This is unbelievable!" Burdick said as he took out his note pad and started writing down on it.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked.

"I'm writing this down. This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

Just then Aaron stopped his bird and jumped off.

"Where are you going?" Burdick asked.

"I'm going to get us a place to rest over night. There is an inn here. Did you bring any rill with you? I doubt I have enough for us both."

"Rill? I'm sorry but, what is that? I do have this weird fruit if that helps." Burdick said as he reached in his pocket for the fruit that had woke him up when he first arrived. When he showed Aaron the fruit, he gave a surprised look.

"Wow! Where did you find that, heck that would be enough to last us days here."

"I found it just before you found me. So does that mean we have a place to stay?"

"Yep come with me."

The two then went inside the inn and got themselves each a room to rest in. For once, Burdick had a good nights dream. He couldn't stop thinking about when he could see more, if this was a dream he hoped it wouldn't end any time soon.

All of a sudden, Burdick was awakened by a quick shake. As he awoke he saw Aaron with a horrified look on his face.

"Huh? What is it?" Burdick asked still halve asleep.  
"Look outside, it's not going to be pretty."


End file.
